Faking It

Is there a glut of unqualified ESL/EFL teachers plying the world with their fake or non-existent degrees? And is this rampant fakery limited to the ESL industry, or is it everywhere?

I'm about to start a new job on Monday and they have asked me to bring my degree. Original. Not a copy. Can't work here without producing it.

Same story every time I change jobs or countries, or need a new course or certificate. I guess I'm annoyed because I would much rather be able to hang my degree in its frame, on my wall. I have the perfect spot for it! Instead, my degree lives in a cardboard tube, tightly rolled up and ready to travel whenever I need to prove to the next HR person that I in fact told the truth on my résumé. The default assumption is that I`m lying. Guilty until proven innocent.
It`s ruining the degree. It has been uncurled and re-curled, and manhandled so much that it has developed creases across the surface. The seal is cracked, and the edges are dirty and wrinkled. This might not bother some people, but it really upsets me. My degree is something very personal, and precious to me. I don`t want the whole world handling it every two years and shoving it carelessly back into the tube.

I should be used to this by now, but it still pisses me off every time. Why is it that other people in other industries can hang their degrees on their walls and never have to take them down? My mother has four degrees which have been hanging in their frames for over 20 years. I can guarantee she has never had to take them out for some monkey to photocopy. Two other friends have their multiple degrees hanging in their homes. They have never had to roll them up and stuff them in a tube.

Why does the ESL industry have such a hard time believing that someone who has been working in the industry for 13 years, in various countries, and who has successfully obtained further certification, and who has embarked on a Masters degree in the field would be in possession of a real, bona fide degree? I really want to hear from people in other fields to see if others have to go through this hassle every time they want to cross the street. I don't know anyone else who does.

So who are all these degree-lying people that they think they need to weed out? Do people really apply with faked credentials? Wouldn't a little logic suffice for establishing the veracity of my claim? Let's think about this for a minute. I am certified by TESL Ontario. My registration number is on my résumé. You cannot get certification unless you have shown the degree to the TESL Ontario office (Original. Not a copy). Therefore, if you really really doubted that I have a degree, you COULD search for my registration number on the TESL Ontario website, verify it`s there, and therefore logically deduce that the degree must exist! Then I wouldn`t have to carry the damned thing with me on Monday!

Maybe it`s time to start believing and trusting long-time professionals. I couldn`t have gotten as far as I have if I didn`t have a degree and you know it. Stop wasting my time!